A Past and Future Evil
by ThatDipperKid
Summary: It was just a routine mission. In one second, Captain Mark Overmire loses his ship and most of his crew. He manages to escape, and carries with him a terrible secret. An old foe has resurfaced, and he is more dangerous then anything Overmire has faced in the past. His only hope is to find Commander Shepard's old shipmates. They may have the key to defeating this ancient threat.


"It's big," said Sordon.

"Yes," said Mark. "Bigger than any ship I've ever seen." The human tapped on his Omni-Tool, and a video screen appeared. "Record," he said out loud. There was a click and a buzz. The video screen began to record what Mark and the krogan were seeing. A massive ship, over fifty times the size of the one they were traveling in now. The ship had grey metal plating. It had no visible propulsion systems. It floated in space like a large grey rock.

"Are we forming an infiltration team?" asked Sordon. The krogan was already suited in his favorite armor. It was well-worn, its shield circuitry replaced a hundred times over. But Sordon was too old-fashioned to replace it. It had been with him through thick and thin, and he would not abandon it. Mark was in his casuals. A military issue robe, with several pins and medals stuck to his lapel.

"Not my call," said Mark. "It's on General Terry to decide."

"Has he been notified?" asked Sordon. Mark nodded.

"Reia got him on the com about an hour ago. He said he's talking to High Command," said Mark. Sordon snorted.

"Wonderful. Then we should have an answer in a month or so," Sordon said.

"Watch your mouth," said Mark. "You may not agree with High Command's methods, but you do have to show them respect."

"Yes sir," growled Sordon. Mark frowned.

"You know I don't like to scold you," said Mark. "But you're new to this whole military thing. Sometimes it's best to keep your opinions to yourself."

"That is not the krogan way," said Sordon.

"In case you haven't noticed, there aren't a lot of krogans in the UPA's military," said Mark. "So if you want to keep this job, stop being krogan for a little while."

"Easier said than done," said Sordon.

"Clearly," muttered Mark. There was a buzz in his ear. He tapped it. "Mark here. Go ahead."

"Mark, this is Sykes." The voice was sleek, feminine, but commanding. Reia Sykes was an Asari helmsman. Mark knew of no other woman who could kick ass like she could. And she was an ace pilot to boot. She was the kind of girl Mark could fall for, if she weren't already committed to a Salarian scientist. "We just got a call from General Terry. He said visual reconnaissance only. He couldn't explain everything, but this isn't the first time the Command has seen one of these ships. They might be dangerous."

"Dangerous? How so?" asked Mark.

"They have automated defense systems," said Reia. "The ship is dead, but the defense systems are alive and well."

"So we keep our distance," said Mark.

"Affirmative Captain," said Reia.

"Fine. I'm coming up to the bridge. Swing us a little closer. I want to get a three-sixty view of this thing," said Mark.

"Roger," said Reia. Mark took his hand away form his ear, and shut off the recorder on his Omni-Tool.

"Typical human reaction," said Sordon. "Sense a little bit of danger, and tiptoe around it. We krogans would take it head on."

"Which explains the unusually high casualty rate among krogan soldiers," said Mark. "Get some men together. We may get boarding clearance, and I want to be ready when we do."

"I'm on it Mark," said Sordon.

"Hey!" Mark grabbed Sordon by the shoulder, and turned the krogan to face him. "On the ship, it's Captain Overmire. Got it?"

"Sorry Captain," said Sordon. "This whole chain of command thing takes some getting used to."

"Don't make me kick your ass again Sordon," said Mark. He let go of the krogan and started towards the elevator. "I'm getting tired of it." The krogan laughed.

"I'll rematch you any time," said Sordon.

"Of that I have no doubt," said Mark. He got into the elevator, tapped the input pad a few times, and the doors closed. He felt his body shift as the elevator rose up a few floors. He inhaled, and exhaled slowly. The elevator was often the only quiet time he got on this ship. He knew when he became captain of the Shepard's Promise that he would be busy, but he had no idea how busy he would really be. Life on a starship was hard. And that was without being attacked every three seconds by Batarian pirates and Geth that some rouge AI had hacked into. He was happy that he was a Captain, but sometimes he wished he was back in the Academy's mess hall. Back then all he had to worry about was women, exams, and more women. Now he had actual responsibilities. The elevator door slid open, and Mark walked on the bridge.

"Captain on deck!" Mishra yelled. Several crewman got up. Mark waved them down.

"At ease ladies and gentlemen," Mark said. The bridge was the size of a small apartment, but there was no empty space. It amazed Mark how much engineers could cram into ships like these. He pushed his way past a group of environmental scanners, and sat down in the chair next to the two helmsman. Reia and her partner Alana (also an Asari) were busy at their stations, working to keep the ship in orbit around the much larger vessel. "Have we got it mapped out yet?" Mark asked Reia.

"Not quite," said Reia. "We're picking up gravitational distortions around certain areas of the unidentified ship. We think these are what trigger its defense systems."

"Well then avoid them," said Mark. "The last thing we need is more damage to the Promise. Tugan is already working around the clock to patch up the damage those Batarians did to us."

"Good old Tugan," chuckled Mishra. Mark turned. The turian was running a finger down his Omni-Tool, fooling around with some figures he had pulled up. "I don't think he's slept since he's been on this ship." "He's a hell of an engineer," said Mark. "Unlike you, he occasionally does some work."

"Your words wound me Captain Overmire," said Mishra. "You know you'd be nowhere without your faithful second in command."

"Right," said Mark. "You've never steered me wrong." The two stared at each other, then burst out laughing. Mark and Mishra had been friends since they had met at the academy. The fact that they had ended up on the same ship had been incredibly serendipitous. Mark never once thought about putting anybody else as his second in command. Mishra was intelligent, strong, and had a mouth on him that would make a Vorcha blush. He was Marks best friend, and his most trusted advisor.

"So what do you think this thing is?" asked Mishra. He closed his Omni-Tool, walked over next to Mark. The captain shrugged.

"No idea," said Mark. "Maybe some sort of mobile planet. A ship this size could sustain a relatively large population."

"Think maybe it's a Quarian relic?" Mishra asked.

"Maybe," said Mark. "But I thought all of their starships were obliterated by the Geth."

"Maybe some survived," said Mishra. "This is a big galaxy. Stranger things have happened. Sordon is proof of that."

"I must admit, I never thought I'd have a Krogan under my command," said Mark.

"You're a uniter of the races," said Mishra. "A real Shepard."

"If I do even a fraction of what she did, I'll consider my career a success," said Mark.

"Captain, I'm getting some unusual readings from the unidentified vessel," said Reia. "Is it activating its defense systems?" asked Mark.

"I don't think so," said Reia. "The signal it's emitting is unusual, but I think it resembles something I've seen before..." The Asari closer her eyes, as if trying to remember something she had seen long ago. "Oh right!" She opened her eyes, and brought up her Omni-Tool. She tapped it a few times, and shook her head. "Of course. It resembles an archaic scanner. The kind they used in the Reaper War era."

"The Reaper War?" said Mark. "This thing is that old?"

"I think so," said Reia. She turned off her Omni-Tool and returned to her console. "If I'm not mistaken, this kind of signal hasn't been used in over three hundred years."

"And I can't remember the last time she was mistaken," said Mishra.

"Incredible," said Mark. "It really might be a lost part of the Migrant Fleet."

"Captain, Commander Terry is on vidcom," said Alana.

"Transfer him to my Omni," said Mark.

"Yes sir," said Alana. Mark pulled up his Omni-Tool. Captain Terry's grizzled face appeared before him.

"What's the situation Captain Overmire?" the General asked.

"Our helmsman has deduced that this vessel is quite old," said Mark. "It's using a signal that's been obsolete since the Reaper Wars."

"I thought as much," said General Terry. "The council has cleared me to discuss the nature of this vessel with you." The General cleared his throat. "This is not the first time we have encountered a ship like this. Five years ago the starship Godsend went off the grid. Its final transmission stated that they had encountered a massive, ancient ship and were attempting contact. When they disappeared, we sent another ship after it. It is from their transmissions that we gleaned most of our information." The General picked up a cup, took a sip, and put the cup back down. "These starships were built about a year before Shepard disabled the Reapers and saved the Citadel. They are massive information bunkers. There is not, nor was there ever, a single living soul inside that ship. That ship contains more information then one man could read in an entire lifetime. We're not sure what kind of information it is, since the data is heavily encrypted. But we believe is has to do with Reaper technology." The General pulled up a graphic of a logo, and situated it next to him. "This is the logo of Cerberus, an ancient terrorist organization that inadvertently helped the Reapers during their conquest. These ships have this logo stamped on the side. Cerberus was using Reaper technology in order to further their war effort." The General took the logo down. "So it makes sense that this vessel contains information on Reaper technology." The bridge of the ship had gone completely quiet. Every soldier in earshot was listening to the general. "Obviously, this isn't a good thing. If this kind of information fell into the wrong hands, we could have a galaxy wide war on our shoulders. It is therefore imperative that we destroy this vessel."

"We just destroy it?" said Mark. "What about the data? Couldn't we make use of it?"

"Captain Overmire, the Reaper War destroyed almost half of all sentient life in the universe," said General Terry. "The only thing this information would bring is grief and misery. We have already flushed the data we recovered from the other ship. The Reaper War is over, and we intend to keep it that way."

"But what if you're wrong?" said Mishra. The Turian put himself in the General's eye line. "What if this isn't Reaper tech? What if this is something that might be helpful? It just seems wasteful to destroy all this data."

"This decision comes from High Command," said General Terry. "Your line of thought has already been debated. It is not worth the risk. Your mission is to destroy the vessel. You cannot convince me, or High Command, of anything otherwise."

"Understood sir," sighed Mishra.

"So what do we do?" asked Mark. "Some sort of remote thermal charge?"

"I wish it were that easy," said Commander Terry. "This thing has armor plating that most bombs wouldn't put a dent in. There's only one way to destroy it: an internal combustion reaction."

"Internal?" asked Mark. "Does that mean-"

"You will have to go inside it," said Commander Terry. "These things have maintenance hatches that you can enter through. A gravitational fluctuator will confuse its defense systems, and allow you to get inside. From there it's easy. There are no biologicals or interior defenses to stop you from carrying out your mission. Simply place the charge on the ships core, and the detonation will destroy the entire ship." "I understand," said Mark. "When do we carry out this mission?"

"Immediately," said General Terry. "This system is unoccupied, but it is a haven for vessels looking to pass through the area undetected. If another ship comes by, they will likely be less than friendly."

"Right," said Mark. "I'll assemble a team immediately."

"Excellent," said General Terry. "I am sending an interior schematic to your Omni-Tool, and am sending specifications for the gravitational fluctuator to your engineer. Report back to me at 1600 hours."

"Affirmative," said Mark. The General nodded, and disappeared. Mark switched off his Omni-Tool.

"Mishra, Reia, you're with me," said Mark. "Alana, keep this distance until I say otherwise."

"Yes sir," said Alana.

"You two meet me down in Engineering," said Mark to Mishra and Reia. "I'm going to get Sordon and some of the young bucks."

"Understood," said Mishra. He and Alana went to the elevator, and took it down. Mark addressed the rest of the bridge.

"This'll be an easy one folks," Mark said. "In and out, no complications. Let's keep it tight, and get in and out of here."

"Yes sir!" the crewman chanted in unison.


End file.
